Читать книгу Now You Know Baseball - Doug Lennox - Страница 11

What does the sign “No Pepper” mean at a baseball park?

The sign “No Pepper” is seen in many baseball dugouts and refers to a game played to warm up the players. During pepper, one player bunts grounders and hits line drives to a group of infielders standing about 20 feet away. The fielders play the ball then throw it back to the batter as quickly as possible, and he then attempts to hit those return throws. Pepper is banned when spectators are in the park for fear of injury.

They Said It …

“He was a good umpire, if you didn’t tell him so too often.”

Johnny Evers on Hank O’Day.

Why is the warm-up area for baseball pitchers called a “bullpen”?

As early as 1809, the term bullpen referred to a stockade for holding criminals. In the 1870s, a roped-off area in the outfield for standing room was nicknamed the bullpen by the Cincinnati Enquirer. When relief pitchers were introduced into the game they took over that area to warm up, and in a stroke of brilliance the Bull Durham Tobacco Company erected a sign overhead to confirm it as the bullpen.

Why are extra seats in a gymnasium or open-air benches in a stadium called “bleachers”?

Bleachers were used in a pinch as uncovered overflow seating from the grandstand before they became common at baseball and football games. The first recorded printed reference was in the Chicago Tribune on May 6, 1889. They were called “bleachers” because of their exposure to the sun. The folding seating at an inside gymnasium simply took its name from the open seating outside.

Which team attempted to become the fi rst team to play out of a domed stadium in the 1950s?

In the 1950s, the Brooklyn Dodgers were still playing out of the beloved, but aging, Ebbett’s Field. Owner Walter O’Malley was keen on building a new park for his team and contacted R. Buckminster Fuller seeking design ideas. O’Malley told Fuller that he was not just interested in building any old stadium — he wanted the Dodgers to be the first team to play out of a domed stadium.

Fuller put his graduate students on the case and came up with the design for a geodesic dome and stadium suitable for baseball.

In the meantime, O’Malley’s attempts to work with the city to secure land in a prime location hit roadblock after roadblock, and the owner chose to move his team to Los Angeles. Baseball would not move indoors until the Houston Astrodome was opened in 1965.

What was the fi rst retractable dome stadium?

When Montreal’s Olympic Stadium was first built, the plan was for it to have a retractable roof operated from an inclined tower. Labour disruptions and design problems prevented the roof from being ready in time for the 1976 Olympics, or for the building’s use as the home of the Montreal Expos.

When the city of Toronto began building the retractable SkyDome (now known as the Rogers Centre) for the Blue Jays, Montreal pushed to finally get their retractable roof in place before their Canadian rivals, and in 1988 Olympic Stadium became the first retractable-dome stadium in the majors; the SkyDome followed a year later.

The convertible era in Montreal was short-lived, however. The roof was difficult to operate, prone to ripping, and unsuited for use in high winds. After three seasons the roof was permanently affixed.

Players with More Than 3,000 Career Hits, and a Sub-.300 Batting Average

• Carl Yastrçemski

• Eddie Murray

• Cal Ripken

• Robin Yount

• Dave Winfield

• Craig Biggio

• Rickey Henderson

• Lou Brock

• Rafael Palmeiro

• Al Kaline

How high was Fenway Park’s left fi eld wall when originally constructed?

The Green Monster at Fenway stands at 37 feet, two inches, but it was not originally that high — nor was it green.

When Fenway first opened in 1912, its left field wall was a mere 25 feet high and was covered in advertisements. And while the high wall was a prominent feature of the park, it was not the quirkiest element. In front of the wall was a steep incline that rose 10 feet from its base in left field to its peak at the wall. The hill came to be known as Duffy’s Cliff, named for left fielder Duffy Lewis, who was a master at playing balls off the slope.

Duffy’s Cliff was flattened in 1934, and the wall ultimately reached its current height. But while it was a monster, it didn’t turn green until 1947.

What was the fi rst major league stadium to sell its naming rights to an outside corporation?

Traditionalists have been bemoaning the trend to sell naming rights to stadiums since the mid-1990s, though some would argue that the “trend” is actually quite old. Though Wrigley Field was named after a person rather than a brand of chewing gum, it’s hard not to connect the two, given that the stadium’s owner also owned the gum company.

Baseball was, nevertheless, opposed to corporate name-plugging for many years, and in 1953 rejected a proposal by Cardinals’ owner Anheuser-Busch to rename St. Louis’s Sportsman’s Park “Budweiser Stadium.” Eventually, they agreed to simply name the stadium (and its successors) Busch Stadium.

But by 1995, Major League Baseball had warmed up to the notion of corporate money, and put up no fight when the naming rights to the new home of the Colorado Rockies were sold to Coors Brewing Company, and Coors Field became the first big league stadium to officially sell naming rights.

How many stadiums have the New York Yankees called home?

Over the course of their history, the New York Yankees — under various monikers — have used six stadiums as their home ballpark.

The Yankees began life as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901. They played out of one of many stadiums in that city that went by the name “Oriole Park.” After two seasons, the team moved to New York and set up shop in the newly built Hilltop Park, which had a capacity of 16,000. The team was known as the Highlanders.

In 1911 the park played host to not only the Highlanders, but the New York Giants, who were left homeless after the latest incarnation of the Polo Grounds had burnt down. Two seasons later, a new Polo Grounds opened, and both teams moved to the new facility. At the same time, the Highlanders changed their name to the Yankees.

Then, in 1923, the massive Yankee Stadium opened and New York’s American League entry once again had a home park to themselves. The Yankees played there until 1973, and then made a temporary move to the Mets’ Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium underwent a massive overhaul. The Yankees returned to their old park in 1976.

Finally, a new Yankee Stadium — a near-replica of the old park — opened in 2009.

Was polo ever actually played at the Polo Grounds?

One of the early great stadiums in baseball was the Polo Grounds, which was home to the New York Giants, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets.

The Polo Grounds that most fans are familiar with was actually the fourth stadium to bear that name. The original, built in 1876, was indeed used for polo, but became a full-time baseball stadium in 1880. That stadium was only in use until 1885. The name, however was retained, and used for three subsequent big-league stadiums.

And yet, after the original stadium, none of the subsequent Polo Grounds were ever used for polo.

What stadium did the Boston Red Sox play out of in the 1915 World Series?

Although Fenway Park had been open since 1912, the stadium could only hold about 27,000 fans. For key games such as World Series games, the Sox moved to the much larger Braves Field — home of the National League’s Boston Braves. And so, in the 1915 World Series, Fenway Park remained silent as Game 3 and Game 4 were played across town.

They Said It …

“The loss of the A’s is more than recompensed by the pleasure of getting rid of Mr. Finley.”

Missouri senator Stuart Symington on the move of the Kansas City Athletics — and owner Charles O.

Finley — to Oakland.

Who was the fi rst team to switch from natural grass to arti fi cial turf?

The Astrodome in Houston was a marvel at the time — the first indoor ballpark. It was considered state of the art. One of the novel features was the use of a special grass modified for indoor use. But even this special grass required sunlight, and so transparent glass panels were included in the ceiling design.

Unfortunately, the glare of sunlight through the panels blinded fielders trying to catch fly balls, and some of the panels needed to be painted over. The grass died. In the stadium’s first season, games were played on dead grass and dirt that had been painted green.

Faced with the likelihood of playing the 1966 season on a dirt field, the team looked for another solution. A company had just invented an artificial grass called ChemGrass. The Astros ordered the new turf for their second season in the Astrodome. At first, there was only enough of the plastic surface to cover the infield, but midway through the season outfield turf was installed.

To capitalize on the new venture, the makers of ChemGrass changed the name of their product to AstroTurf.

Which player demanded that the Detroit Tigers move the fences of their stadium in so that he could hit more home runs?

In 2000, two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez was traded to the Detroit Tigers, who were moving into the newly built Comerica Park. But as a home run hitter, Gonzalez found the new park to be a challenge — the outfield dimensions were massive. Left centre field was a whopping 395 feet from home plate.

Gonzalez struggled, hitting only 22 home runs that season, which was a huge drop considering that prior to joining the Tigers, the fewest number of home runs he’d hit was 39 home runs in each of his past four seasons.

Gonzalez, who was slated to become a free agent, demanded that the Tigers move the fences in. The Tigers refused, and Gonzalez bolted to the Cleveland Indians in 2001.

Criticism continued to plague the outfield dimensions at Comerica, and the Tigers moved the fences in for the 2003 season. By that point, even had Gonzalez still been a Tiger, injuries had taken a toll, and Gonzalez was a shadow of his former self.

Quickies

Did you know …

• that the original Wrigley Field was in Los Angeles, California? Though the Chicago stadium was built earlier, it went by the name Cubs Park. Owner William Wrigley Jr. owned both the Cubs and the minor league Los Angeles Angels, and built the L.A. Wrigley Field in 1925. The Chicago venue wasn’t named Wrigley Field until 1926.

What stadium has a ladder that is in play?

Fenway Park has many quirks, not the least of which is the Green Monster in left field. The fabled wall is notable not only for its height (and for the short distance between the wall and home plate) but for the difficulties it poses for outfielders who have to judge how the ball will bounce off different parts of the wall.

A strange feature of the wall is a ladder that is attached to the wall in play. Prior to the addition of seats on top of the wall, home runs hit over the Monster landed in netting. Stadium employees would use the ladder to climb up to the top of the wall and retrieve balls from the netting.

When seats were added there was no need for ball retrieval, but the ladder remains as an essential part of the character of the ballpark.

What stadium, currently used by a major league team, was originally constructed for a team in a league that no longer exists?

It’s hard to imagine Wrigley Field without the Chicago Cubs, but when the iconic stadium first opened in 1914, the Cubs were not the tenants. The stadium, then known as Weeghman Park, was built to house the Chicago Federals, the Windy City’s entry in the upstart Federal League.

The Federal League was the last major challenge to the American and National Leagues, and made a valiant attempt to recruit big-name players and establish itself as a third major league. The league was a flop, and shut down after only two seasons. (In 1968 it was retroactively recognized as a major league.)

Weeghman Park was left empty, but not for long. The Federals’ owner, Charlie Weeghman, teamed up with William Wrigley Jr. to purchase the Chicago Cubs and move them into the young ballpark. In the following years, Wrigley became sole owner of the team. In 1920, the park’s name was changed to Cubs Park; in 1926, Wrigley threw humility aside and named the stadium after himself.

They Said It …

“Now it is done, now the story ends. And there is no way to tell it. The art of fiction is dead.

Reality has strangled invention.

Only the utterly impossible, the inexpressibly fantastic, can ever be plausible again.”

Sportswriter Red Smith on Bobby Thomson’s 1951 pennant-winning home run.

What kind of ivy is used at Wrigley Field?

Built in 1914, Wrigley Field originally had an uncovered brick wall in the outfield that was a danger to outfielders. In 1937, Bill Veeck planted ivy plants along the wall. The ivy has grown thick over the years, and often balls get stuck in the foliage, but the frustration an outfielder might face in searching for a lost ball is a small price to pay for the safety that is provided.

The ivy of choice is Boston ivy, which is capable of surviving the harsh Chicago winters.

What was the fi rst baseball stadium built of concrete and steel?

Concrete and steel stadiums are the norm in professional baseball, and have been for generations, but there was a time in the early years of the major leagues when all stadiums were constructed of wood. This began to change in 1909 when Shibe Park opened in Philadelphia.

Shibe Park was built for the Philadelphia Athletics at a cost of $457,167.71, and originally seated 20,000 fans. In 1925, an upper deck and outfield seats were added to bring capacity to 33,000.

The Athletics eventually moved to Kansas City and later Oakland, but Shibe Park continued to be used by the National League’s Philadelphia Phillies until 1970. It was demolished in 1976.

Why did the Boston Red Sox rearrange the order of the plaques for retired numbers on their out fi eld wall in the 1990s?

Currently there are eight retired numbers on the wall at Fenway Park, but for many years, the numbers of Ted Williams (9), Joe Cronin (4), Bobby Doerr (1), and Carl Yastrzemski (8) were the only numbers on display, and they were arranged in that order.

In the 1980s, media began fabricating the “Curse of the Bambino.” The supposed “curse” was a hex Babe Ruth placed on the team after being sold to the Yankees. Ruth never actually placed any curse on the team, but it made for a nice story. In 1989, a new piece was added to the myth when Yastrzemski’s number was retired. Someone observed that the order of the numbers, if seen as a date, would be 9–4–18 — September 4, 1918. That date was the night before the 1918 World Series — the last that the Red Sox had won. As much of a stretch as it was, this was useful information to curse theorists.

In the 1990s, the numbers were arranged in order — 1, 4, 8, 9 — in an effort to break the curse. The rewards were not immediate, but curse believers will tell you that if the numbers had not been re-ordered, the Red Sox would not have won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.

What happened to the lights that were supposed to be installed in Wrigley Field in 1941?

Wrigley Field was long known as the last hold out against night baseball, playing 5,687 consecutive day games before lights were finally installed and night games played in 1988.

But the holdout was almost a brief one. In 1941, lights were delivered to Wrigley Field for the purpose of lighting the stadium for night games for the 1942 season. But the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, a patriotic William Wrigley donated the lights to a shipyard to aid in the war effort.

As time went on, day games became a nearly unbreakable tradition. But by the late 1980s, the lack of lights became an issue, to the point that Major League Baseball was threatening to force the Cubs to play postseason games at Busch Stadium in St. Louis — an unthinkable penalty for Cards-hating Cubs fans. So, on August 8, the Cubs started their first night game at Wrigley.

The baseball gods must have been reluctant to part with tradition; the game was called due to rain after three innings, and the official night game at Wrigley wasn’t played until the following evening.

What is the only monument in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park that is not dedicated to a speci fi c person?

One of the most famous features of the old and new Yankee Stadiums is Monument Park. Once located on the playing field before being moved behind the outfield wall in the 1970s, the section of the park honours former Yankee greats with plaques and monuments.

But one plaque is not dedicated to an individual — it is dedicated to a group of people. On September 11, 2002, one year after the attacks on the World Trade Center, a plaque was placed in the back right corner of Monument Park in honour of the victims and rescue workers of 9/11.

What was the “Black Monster”?

For two years, in 2001 and 2002, part of the outfield at Cincinnati’s Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) was demolished to make room for The Great American Ballpark, which was being built immediately next to Cinergy. But despite the partial demolition, Cinergy Field was still used for Reds games.

The removal of outfield seats created a less than ideal backdrop for hitters, so a 40-foot black wall was erected in center field. The wall was in play, and for two seasons the wall, known as the Black Monster, was the highest outfield wall in the Majors.

The Reds moved to their new stadium and Cinergy was completely levelled.

What stadium has a section called the “Uecker seats”?

Bob Uecker was a mediocre ballplayer (his lifetime batting average was an even .200), but he became known as “Mr. Baseball” after his playing career thanks to his antics as a broadcaster, actor, and pitchman.

Uecker appeared in a series of beer commercials for Miller Lite. In one of the most memorable, Uecker is attending a baseball game when an usher tells him he’s in the wrong seat. Uecker follows the usher, saying “I must be in the front row!” He’s then escorted to upper deck seats behind a post.

Thereafter, fans and media began referring to seats far from the action, or with obstructed views, as “Uecker seats.” It was Milwaukee’s Miller Park that officially gave the name to a section of the stands. Seats in that section are blocked by the pivot for the stadium roof. On the bright side, the tickets only cost one dollar.

What is the highest out fi eld wall in professional baseball?

While Fenway’s Green Monster is without doubt the most famous outfield wall in the sport, it’s not the highest. That honour goes to the Arch Nemesis, the left field wall at Sovereign Bank Stadium in York, Pennsylvania. The park is the home of the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Sovereign Bank Stadium opened its doors for the 2007 stadium, with the Arch Nemesis measuring 37 feet, eight inches — a mere six inches higher than the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

When was the fi rst World Series played entirely on arti fi cial turf?

The World Series had been played on AstroTurf twice before — in 1975 and 1976 — but only one team (the Cincinnati Reds in both series) played in a stadium with an artificial surface. It wasn’t until 1980 that a World Series was played entirely on artificial grass. That year, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals, four games to two. Philadelphia had been playing on AstroTurf at Veterans’ Stadium since 1971, and the Royals had been playing on the plastic since Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) was built in 1973.

Royals Stadium was the only stadium built as a baseball-only facility to use artificial grass. In 1995, as teams around the Majors were moving to more traditional stadiums, real grass was installed, ending the plastic era in Kansas City.